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Lazy Days of Summer Giveaway hop!

Welcome to Mary's Garden. I have something special today. First it's time for the garden tip. I have borrowed some tips on growing vegetables in the fall from Mother Earth News.
Tip 1. Starting Seeds
Tip 2. Think Soil First
Tip 3. Try New Crops

Several of the best crops for your fall garden may not only be new to your garden, but new to your kitchen, too. Set aside small spaces to experiment with nutty arugula, crunchy Chinese cabbage, and super-cold-hardy mâche (corn salad). Definitely put rutabaga on your “gotta try it” list: Dense and nutty “Swede turnips” are really good (and easy!) when grown in the fall. Many Asian greens have been specially selected for growing in fall, too. Examples include ‘Vitamin Green’ spinach-mustard, supervigorous mizuna and glossy green tatsoi (also spelled tah tsai), which is beautiful enough to use as flower bed edging.

As you consider the possibilities, veer toward open-pollinated varieties for leafy greens, which are usually as good as — or better than — hybrids when grown in home gardens. The unopened flower buds of collards and kale pass for the gourmet vegetable called broccolini, and the young green seed pods of immature turnips and all types of mustard are great in stir-fries and salads. Allow your strongest plants to produce mature seeds. Collect some of the seeds for replanting, and scatter others where you want future greens to grow. In my garden, arugula, mizuna and turnips naturalize themselves with very little help from me, as long as I leave a few plants to flower and set seed each year.

With broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and their close cousins, hybrid varieties generally excel in terms of fast, uniform growth, so this is one veggie group for which the hybrid edge is a huge asset. Breeding work is underway to develop better open-pollinated varieties for organic growers, but for now, trusted hybrids such as ‘Belstar’ broccoli, ‘Gonzales’ cabbage or ‘Snow Crown’ cauliflower are usually the best choices.

Finally, be sure to leave ample space for garlic, which is planted later on, when you can smell winter in the air. Shallots, multiplying onions, and perennial “nest” onions are also best planted in mid-fall, after the soil has cooled. In short-season areas these alliums are planted in September; elsewhere they are planted in October.

​After two years undercover as an FBI agent to infiltrate a crime organization and discover the identity of a hit man, Tyler Beckett’s cover is blown. Tyler’s new assignment is to protect the only witness who can identify the mysterious killer. If only he didn’t find her so attractive. Each day it becomes harder to keep his objective, especially since he knows the interest is mutual.

Keira Cavanaugh is the only witness to a hit ordered by a crime boss.The safe house is compromised and the same hit man shoots Tyler. Fearing Tyler is dead, Keira plans revenge on the crime organization. She must fake her own suicide in order to survive.

When Tyler discovers what Keira plans, he realizes he must stop her before he loses her for good.iBooks

Innocent Book II

All Jessica wants is a home and family. So how did she suddenly find herself falsely accused of a felony and then kidnapped by a hit man?

Jessica Beckett loves teaching high school algebra. That is until Coach Brinley makes her life miserable because she actually has the audacity to fail his three staring football jocks. Maybe if they’d done their homework they would have passed. She refuses to be intimidated. He on the other hand refuses to admit defeat and manipulates the boys into accusing her of sex in exchange for passing grades.

Gabriel Despain loves being an FBI agent. But falling for his partner’s sister has complications. It would be easier to ignore his feelings if Jessica hadn't found herself in trouble. Now he must keep her safe. If he can't remain objective, they might end up dead.

Christine Beckett’s dream of partnership in a prestigious New York City law firm has finally come to fruition. She has financial security, a loving family, and owns her home, why does she need a man?

Detective Solomon has worked with Tyler Beckett on several cases, he almost feels he is part of the Beckett clan. He considers them his good friends, except for Christine who seems to look down her professional nose at him.

Christine receives a threatening note and her townhouse echoes with mysterious cries in the night. That is when the handsome and irritating detective insists he temporarily move in to protect her. To add insult, it is with her family’s blessing.

Special Agent Reagan Beckett left Brooklyn for San Francisco ten years ago—and on bad terms with her family. When the World Banking Association (WBA), one of the biggest worldwide financial institutions, is targeted by domestic terrorists, Reagan is called to join the team with two others in New York City. Now she would be home for an extended visit.

Special Agent Paco Luis Perez has heard of the legendary Tyler Beckett and looks forward to working with the man on the assignment in New York. However, when he reads Beckett’s dossier on his flight from D.C., he discovers the Beckett he expected to meet isn’t Tyler.

NYPD Detective Spencer Alexander Williams III, a member of the gang terrorist task force, reluctantly agrees to consult on the domestic terrorist case as the local liaison. He has never liked working with a team; he learns more on his own. But they need his uncanny knack to anticipate the gang’s movements.

As soon as Reagan receives information on the assignment, she researches her new partners. But does she know enough to literally trust these men with her life?​

Matt Beckett is the Chief Financial officer for World Banking Association (WBA). Over a year ago an agency known as the HEAD group tried to take over the WBA. Matt's sister, Reagan Beckett, a member of a Federal Special Task Force took out one of the key players, a serial killer known as the Headman. Now the founder of HEAD, Andrew Phillips, is back and ready to finish what he'd started with a new and dastardly key player from the Dark web.

Matt doesn’t have any desire to be involved in any cloak and dagger stuff. He’d rather leave that to the other law enforcement Beckett’s. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he'll have a choice.

Bryn Connelly is the Chief Audit Executive also for the WBA. She had been one of the Headman's targets and thought her days of danger were over. However, she finds herself working with laid back Matt Beckett, much to her dismay.

Matt couldn’t be more delighted when Reagan informs him he'll be working the lovely Bryn. He’s been trying to catch her eye for five years, now. However, their sleuthing quickly lands them in a precarious position.

It’s up to Matt and Bryn to finish what Reagan and her team started, but can he win the lovely Bryn and save the day? Or will he lose her forever if the WBA falls into the wrong hands?

Wanting more than being a Beckett, Glenna moves to California, opens a successful vintage shop and even finds love with international playboy, Lance Gordon. When he proposes, she ignores any doubts she has and says yes. He even agrees to meet her in Brooklyn N.Y for a wedding with the entire Beckett clan. Imagine her worry when he misses the nuptials. Refusing to believe she’s been abandoned at the altar, she asks her FBI Agent brother, Tyler, to contact a friend on the West Coast to find Lance.

Special Agent, Patrick McGinnis, can’t believe he’s on a wild goose chase for a missing groom. The bride might be drop dead gorgeous, but that didn’t mean her playboy fiancé couldn’t have found something more enticing.

Unfortunately, once Patrick starts to dig, he finds there’s more to the tale and it will take all his skills as an agent to keep Glenna safe. Especially when the case takes a turn and threatens the safety of his son, Finn.​